Drink of the week: King and I's Bloody Hot Mary

Legend has it that the Bloody Mary, originally known as The Red Snapper, was created in Paris during the 1920s and the recipe was brought to New York after prohibition. Later, it is said that an "unnamed celebrity" found himself without a swizzle stick to stir his cocktail, so he took a piece of celery off his relish tray to give his drink a stir--and the Bloody Mary garnish was born.

Then the pages of the calender flew through the air and it was 2009. Endless bartenders have developed their take on the Bloody Mary and I rarely meet a Mary I don't like. Yet it is always cool to stumble upon a unique take on this drink. At King and I they call their version the Bloody Hot Mary, an indeed it is bloody hot-- made with roasted garlic, Thai chili sauce, and delicious mystery spices, the bloody-hotness is nicely balanced by cool garnishes: crisp cucumber, spicy basil and ginger, and a rosy-red tomato.

This twist on the traditional hangover cure is spicy, savory, interesting and freakin' delicious. This drink proved to me that the possibilities are limitless for this classic cocktail--go ahead and dunk whatever you have in there and just see how it goes.